A problem which is encountered virtually in every day life by many people, is trying to locate the position of an object which has been misplaced or an animal or a person who has gone astray. This invention describes three configurations of a device which can assist in searching for the missing objects and in locating lost animals/persons, thus stopping people wasting a great deal of time and effort trying to locate them.
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention assists searching for lost objects/animals/persons. It offers simplicity in structure and use. The basic configuration of the invention gives an alerting means (audio and/or visual) to assist the searcher in locating an object/animal/person.
The second configuration of the invention provide information to the searcher regarding the direction of an object/animal/person. This is realized in a simple and straight forward way by means of an arrow engraved on a disc which is mounted on a motorized means carrying the antenna. The direction of the arrow will be locked towards the direction of an object/animal/person searched.
The third configuration of the invention is used to search only for persons and it does not only provide indication of the direction of a person to the searcher but also provides information to the person being searched regarding the direction of the searcher.
The three configurations of the invention offers the following advantages: They are based on simple two way digital communication systems, they contain simple and inexpensive parts, they are small in size, they cover a long range, they are user friendly, they display to the searcher a locating acknowledgement, and they encompass very effective locating assisting means.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,525 by Strauch et al., 1979 describes an analog radio electric system for locating a given object. The system supplies a displayed angular and range data regarding the position of an object in a reference frame. This invention suffers from the following limitations: it has a complex design, it is limited to locating aircraft as it is extremely difficult for a person to orientates oneself along a displayed particular angular displacement and the displayed range does not carry any particular significance to a person who is trying to locate an item or a person.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,469 by Lander, 1984 describes an analog apparatus which can assist in locating an object. It comprises a searcher and a locator attached to the object. The latter gives an audible bleep when it is positioned by the searcher. This invention is limited to assisting in locating short range objects, up to 6 meters range. Hence, it is only suitable for normal domestic and office conditions. It does not display exact direction of the object location apart from the audible bleep which is generated from the locator attached to the object when it is positioned. In addition, it does not give any visual alerting means to assist in locating the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,921 by Saito et al., 1987 describes an apparatus for finding the location of a car within a vast area. In this invention the transmitter is attached to the car and the receiver is portable. Search is carried out until maximum level of the signal generated from the transmitter is displayed. This invention suffers from the following drawbacks: the transmitter is always radiating a signal which represents a drain on the apparatus battery, it is complex in design and construction, it needs a central processing units with sophisticated algorithms and it is impractical.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,641 by Howe, 1995, describes a vehicle locator system which is integrated into the electrical system of a vehicle. This locator is designed specifically for bird hunters. It emits an audible alarm after the elapse of a specified delay time set up by the hunter when leaving the vehicle. This invention is limited in its application. It does not give any visual alerting means to assist in locating the object, It is an integrated part of the vehicle electrical system and not a stand alone device and it is activated whilst the hunter is away from the vehicle, thus representing a constant electrical load drainage on the vehicle battery.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,238 by Cannon et al., 1997, describes a method of locating objects by attaching electronic tags to these objects. An electronic tag is identifiable by a unique response code. To locate the object, the response code is entered via an interrogator. The interrogator sends a signal that causes the tag to emit a sound. This invention is only operational if the identifying unique response code stored on the electronic tag is not tampered with in any way. Also if this code is inadvertently erased, the locator will be obsolete.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,758 by Bullock, 1998, describes a vehicle locator system combining a remote transmitting unit and a vehicle mounted receiving unit which actuate a light source mounted on the vehicle""s exterior to facilitate the location of the vehicle by the searcher in a crowded or dimly lit places. This system is also capable of selectively actuating the vehicle""s horn. This invention suffers from the complexity in mechanical structure and the interference with the car exterior. In addition, the partially lowered vehicle window necessary for instalment the vehicle""s exterior light source represents a security issue for the vehicle. In addition, the light source may accumulate dirt and grit and due to being subjected to the external environmental conditions may malfunction frequently.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,932 by Castellon et al., 1998, describes a radio frequency security system with direction and distance locator. The radio frequency security system includes a central control unit and a plurality of portable transmitters which are in radio frequency communication with the central control unit. The system can be used to detect if a child or an inanimate object has crossed a specified boundary security region. It can also yield information regarding range and direction. This invention has a complex design as it includes a central control unit containing a central processing unit and its associated memory devices, a directional detection circuit, a threshold detection circuit, a distance measuring circuit, a keypad input device, an antenna system, an identification circuit and several displays.
The present invention offers a novel uncomplicated design and construction, long range, low cost, location acknowledgement, small size, user friendly and ease of use, no drainage on the power supply whilst on the waiting mode and low drainage on the power supply whilst on the search mode. The design is simple and it does not require a central processing unit (CPU) with its associated sophisticated control algorithms. It has three optional designs or configurations. The first gives an audio or visual alerting facility to assist in locating the whereabouts of an object/animal/person. This is realized via triggering audio means (buzzers, audio messages or music) and/or visual means such as flashing display units when an object/animal/person is located. The second design, in addition to giving the alerting facility mentioned above, it gives the searcher the facility of finding the direction of the object/animal/person to be located. The third design is suitable for locating a person where an addition to give the alerting and the direction finding facility described above, it also enables the person to be located the direction of the searcher.
The scope of this invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalent rather than solely by the examples given.
A locator intended to give alerting (audio and/or visual) facility and a direction indication to the whereabouts of an object/animal/person comprises a portable transmitter/receiver unit carried by the searcher and a transmitter/receiver unit mounted on an object/animal or carried by a person. To indicate the direction of location of an object/animal/person, one or both of the antennas within these units should be installed on a motorized means. The power supply to both units and the motorized means is a small rechargeable battery.
The transmitter in the portable transmitter unit and the transmitter/receiver unit mounted on an object or carried by a person includes the following basic building blocks: a directional antenna(10) or (28), a line driver means which generates a uniquely coded digital signal to be transmitted(2), a frequency shift keying means to modulate the encoded signal(4), an amplifier to amplify the modulated signal(6), amplification being function of the required range of the locator and a radio frequency modulation unit(8).
The receiver in the portable transmitter/receiver unit and the transmitter/receiver unit mounted on an object/animal or carried by a person includes the following building blocks: a directional antenna(12), a radio frequency demodulator unit to demodulate the signal received from the transmitter in the portable transmitter/receiver unit(l4), an amplifier unit which amplifies the demodulated signal(16), a frequency shift keying demodulator(18), a digital decoder which decodes the demodulated encoded digital signal(20) and an alerting facility encompassing an audio and/or visual means(24).